Paychex
PAYX on Nasdaq. Paychex sells payroll and human resources services to small and midsize businesses. Market value $35.5bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to August 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to May 2026.
Should I look at this?
Worth a closer look
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
Nothing stood out in the numbers we check.
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $5.61 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 15.4 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 41 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 97 of 100. Price score: 86 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$101.02 a share, 18% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $85.45 to $129.24.
Dividend: 4.4% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $4.6bn | $5.0bn | $5.3bn | $5.6bn | $6.5bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 39.9% | 40.6% | 41.2% | 39.6% | 38.6% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.26 | 0.23 | 0.22 | 1.20 | 1.22 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.36bn | 0.36bn | 0.36bn | 0.36bn | 0.36bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)8 of 9
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt1.22× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsSlow, 9.9% a year
- Buying back its own sharesRoughly flat
The quarter to August 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $1.6 billion last quarter, up 6% on a year ago.
- Profit: $430 million, up 12% on a year ago.
- It keeps 39 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, up from 38 cents a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $2 billion, up from $1.9 billion.
- 1% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Debt is $4 billion more than cash, down from $4.2 billion a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| November 2024 | $1.3bn |
| February 2025 | $1.5bn |
| May 2025 | $1.4bn |
| August 2025 | $1.5bn |
| November 2025 | $1.6bn |
| February 2026 | $1.8bn |
| May 2026 | $1.6bn |
| August 2026 | $1.6bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| November 2024 | $413m |
| February 2025 | $519m |
| May 2025 | $297m |
| August 2025 | $384m |
| November 2025 | $395m |
| February 2026 | $560m |
| May 2026 | $421m |
| August 2026 | $430m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- 18 December 2026
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 17 July 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 24 December 2026
Who owns it
8 long-term investors we follow own it, up from 7 last quarter. 1,528 funds in all.
- Fenimore Asset Management (FAM Funds)John Fox
- Value
- $22m
- Share of fund
- 0.5%
- Markel GroupTom Gayner
- Value
- $15m
- Share of fund
- 0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select Equity GroupGeorge Loening | $228m | 1.2% | Cut |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $74m | 0.2% | Added |
| Troy Asset ManagementSebastian Lyon (founder) | $25m | 0.7% | Cut |
| Fenimore Asset Management (FAM Funds)John Fox | $22m | 0.5% | |
| Semper AugustusChristopher Bloomstran | $21m | 2.4% | New |
| Markel GroupTom Gayner | $15m | 0.1% | |
| Auxier Asset ManagementJeff Auxier | $4m | 0.5% | Cut |
| Clarkston Capital PartnersJeff Hakala | $2m | 0.2% | Added |
Largest holders overall
- Capital International Investors$2.8bnCut
- BlackRock$2.7bnCut
- Vanguard Capital Management$2.1bn
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$1.5bn
- State Street$1.4bnAdded
- Invesco$1.3bnAdded
- Charles Schwab Investment Management$1.0bnAdded
- Geode Capital Management$1.0bn
- Morgan Stanley$643mAdded
- Federated Hermes$578m
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
2 investors own more than 5%.
- Capital International InvestorsPassive investor8.6%+3.2 ptsSince 31 December 2025
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor6.8%Since 31 March 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Capital International Investors Passive investor | 8.6%+3.2 pts | 31 December 2025 | |
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 6.8% | 31 March 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 2 insiders bought $197,260 of shares on the open market. 5 sold $4m.
- Schrader Robert L.Sr. VP, CFOSold
- Date
- 20 July 2026
- Shares
- 2,600
- Price
- $115.09
- Value
- $299,234
- Simmons Christopher CVP, Controller & TreasurerSold
- Date
- 17 July 2026
- Shares
- 2,615
- Price
- $115.92
- Value
- $303,131
- MUCCI MARTINDirectorSold
- Date
- 14 July 2026
- Shares
- 25,000
- Price
- $109.93
- Value
- $3m
- TUCCI JOSEPH MDirectorSold
- Date
- 26 June 2026
- Shares
- 3,907
- Price
- $98.25
- Value
- $383,863
- Roaldsen ElizabethSr. Vice PresidentSold
- Date
- 13 May 2026
- Shares
- 459
- Price
- $90.00
- Value
- $41,310
- DOODY JOSEPHDirectorBought
- Date
- 4 February 2026
- Shares
- 1,000
- Price
- $98.76
- Value
- $98,760
- BONADIO TOMDirectorBought
- Date
- 4 February 2026
- Shares
- 1,000
- Price
- $98.50
- Value
- $98,500
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 July 2026 | Schrader Robert L. Sr. VP, CFO | Sold | 2,600 | $115.09 | $299,234 |
| 17 July 2026 | Simmons Christopher C VP, Controller & Treasurer | Sold | 2,615 | $115.92 | $303,131 |
| 14 July 2026 | MUCCI MARTIN Director | Sold | 25,000 | $109.93 | $3m |
| 26 June 2026 | TUCCI JOSEPH M Director | Sold | 3,907 | $98.25 | $383,863 |
| 13 May 2026 | Roaldsen Elizabeth Sr. Vice President | Sold | 459 | $90.00 | $41,310 |
| 4 February 2026 | DOODY JOSEPH Director | Bought | 1,000 | $98.76 | $98,760 |
| 4 February 2026 | BONADIO TOM Director | Bought | 1,000 | $98.50 | $98,500 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 17 Jul 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 24 Sep 2026 and 2 later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
Cheap for a reason is the question the numbers cannot answer.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
What changed in the risks this year
Companies must list what could hurt them each year. These are the parts that changed since last year’s report.
Our use of AI technology and the incorporation of AI technology into our solutions carries risks and challenges that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Could happenWe have and are increasingly incorporating AI capabilities into many of our solutions, enabled by WISE, and internal processes to enable our customers and our employees to improve efficiency, scalability, and productivity. The integration of AI into our solutions presents risks and challenges, including that we may be unable to integrate AI technologies into our solutions when or as we expect, that our customers do not welcome or realize the anticipated benefits of such technologies or may use AI technologies from other providers instead of using our services, that new AI technologies may disrupt our industry adding market pressure, that our AI-based solutions could produce inaccurate results or have other unintended consequences, or that our AI-based solutions may expose us to lawsuits, regulatory investigations, or other proceedings, and subject us to legal liability as well as brand and reputational harm, all of which could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Read moreOur use of AI technology and the incorporation of AI technology into our solutions carries risks and challenges that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Could happenWhile AI technologies may offer significant benefits, they also create risks and challenges. Although we implement measures to address the accuracy and appropriate use of AI tools, including internal AI policies and training, these efforts may not always be successful. Use of AI tools that introduce bias, errors, hallucinations (false, misleading, or fabricated text purporting to be factual), as well as any failure by our employees, contractors, or partners to adhere to our AI policies, or inappropriate use of AI, could result in violations of confidentiality obligations, ethical considerations, laws, or regulations, jeopardize our intellectual property rights, or expose our solutions or business systems to defects and malware, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Read more
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.